DIEGO SANTOS
Grace Soechting, a deaf person who works in the field of wildlife sciences, feeds lettuce to a giraffe in Fort Worth Zoo during the Deaf Day at the zoo event on Sept. 20.
Four-year-old Matilda Wingard loved her day at the Fort Worth Zoo.
She was born with sensorineural bilateral hearing loss and used “pink, sparkly” hearing aids until she got the cochlear implant when she was 18 months old.
The Zoo on Sept. 20 had a special event for members of the deaf community. Instead of being the only hearing-impaired person around, Matilda suddenly was among her peers.
“We love it just because she sees other people around signing and everything,” Matilda’s mother Emily Wingard said. “I mean, I think at the moment signing is the norm for her.”
Deaf Day at the Zoo allowed members of the Deaf community as well as students from TR Campus’ American Sign Language program to have a day out together.
The event was curated to make the zoo more accessible for Deaf people as well as give students who were interning as ASL interpreters more experience.
Maureen Denner, the director of the sign language interpreting program, said that after approaching zoo officials three years ago with the idea of a Deaf Day, they were open to help with the idea.
A discount code provided for Deaf attendees made the general admission cost less than it normally would.
“The first year, it was pretty successful,” Denner said. “There were over 200 discount codes used. And then last year we had more, probably about 275. So we’re hoping this year, it’s going to be even more.”
With the help of online posts from the college’s social media and the zoo’s website, Deaf people from all over the area could find the event.
Denner said one of her goals in organizing the event was to create accessibility for the Deaf community.
“Two dads had come and were interviewed by CBS News, and I voiced for them,” Denner said about last year’s event. “And what they said was that they greatly appreciated this opportunity because they never knew what was going on, what the zookeepers were sharing.”
She said her second goal for this event was to expose her interns to real-world events and situations using ASL.
“It’s a teaching moment,” she said. “They’ll encounter vocabulary and situations here that they may not encounter elsewhere, and so this is part of their internship.”
The zoo was helpful with making sure this event was successful and accessible for the deaf community, Denner said. Avery Elander, the zoo’s director of communications, said she has been helping with this event since it started.
“It has turned into a wonderful community event that I think lots of people look forward to,” Elander said.
TCC’s interpretation internship is one of four accredited associate degree programs in the U.S.
“This is a very competitive program,” interpreting intern Godfrey Scott said. “It’s one of the top four in the nation.”
The internship requires a lot but is rewarding for the students in the end, Scott said.
“So my goal for today, not only to bring awareness to Deaf culture, but to also spread awareness,” Scott said. “Because I think it’s important with oppression being in the Deaf community, I think it’s important for us to share the knowledge.”
Interpreting intern Yaya Austin said after taking the fourth ASL class, students take a course called T1, which is an interpretation class.
“We all fought to be here,” Austin said.
The interns receive assignments anywhere from going to the school or going to a doctor’s office, she said.
“You just never know, one day you could be at school, one day you could be at a courthouse, one day you could be on a football field, one day you could be here at the zoo,” Austin said.
Interpreting intern Amaia Gilbert said the interns all want to give more access to the Deaf community.
“So they can come and bring their families and just have communication access, which they normally can’t get on a regular day,” Gilbert said.
Interpreting intern Karl Lewis said that the feedback from the Deaf community on this event has been positive.
“To have a chance to have the information given in their own language, to be able to ask questions, it’s really a fantastic event,” Lewis said.
Interns were placed all over the zoo at each exhibit and made available to anyone who may need ASL interpretation.
Lori Spalding, a tutor for the ASL courses, attended Deaf Day for the first time to evaluate the interns and experience the event from a Deaf perspective. When interviewed, she was interpreted by TCC-certified interpreter Chloe Cook.
“Being Deaf is really amazing,” Spalding said. “Seeing the different interpreters’ accessibility, it’s actually more information for me.”
Spalding said she wishes hearing people knew some gestures and were willing to learn how to communicate with Deaf people.
“Because really we’re all humans, but some people are a little bit more timid and shy to communicate with us,” she said. “So I wish they knew it was OK to gesture. It’s OK to communicate with us. We don’t bite.”
She also said this day was important to her.
“I’m excited for the Deaf individuals, especially the Deaf children too who are learning,” she said. “They definitely need that.”
Four-year-old Matilda does not quite realize yet that apart from her home and school, people do not sign everywhere, said her mother, Emily Wingard.
“I think coming to places like this shows her that it’s out there,” Wingard said. “But I still don’t think she really realizes like this is one day. It’s not always like this at the zoo.”